


The Tiger Prince & the Stray

by Popcan



Category: FFXIV, Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:28:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23522320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Popcan/pseuds/Popcan
Summary: Future Warrior of Light has an encounter with a young princeling, Hien Rijin while lost in Doma.
Relationships: Hien Rijin & Warrior of Light, Hien Rijin/Warrior of Light
Kudos: 23





	The Tiger Prince & the Stray

**Author's Note:**

> This is just one of many little stories for Kirishimi Yasuragi, a Warrior of Light. This one in particular tells of how she once met Hien when they were both children and how she ended up in Eorzea. Although written a while ago, I've noticed a few inaccuracies in this piece and am working on fixing them. But for now, here's the story of how Hien and Kiri met. A drabble really.

Summer had only just begun in Yanxia’s rolling landscape. Mornings begun in a heavy haze of fog that lifted from the One River. The sheet of fog was then cleared away by the rising of the sun, soon followed by the humid heat that left cicadas singing well into the evening. 

It was on one such foggy morning that lead a young boy to the docks of the enclave. Armed with naught but a hunting knife and his own memory to guide him through the morning gloom along winding pathways, he went about his mission. Everyone would still be asleep, no doubt. Not until the cry of the cock would the others rise to greet the day. That was precisely why he traversed such an eerie morning. 

The ferrymen had spoken days before of a ghost that plagued the docks. Several had laid claim to having witnessed its appearance first hand. At first such fairy tales were dismissed, not even the mind of a child could be so easily swayed by men who spent their evenings in cups. But when the soldiers who kept watch over the enclave whispered of the ghost, armed to the teeth with rifles and science, he knew a thorough investigation was in order. 

“A ghost? Not likely.” Shun mused to himself as he marched on, into the thickest blanket of mist. Eyes of pale jade searched the silhouettes around him. A boat of Garlean make loomed yalms away, a hulking shadow but not worth causing a fright. Unloaded cargo stacked three high but hardly resembling a specter. Unless that specter was Gosetsu, perhaps. Still he pressed on, unfazed by his findings thus far. 

The beat of his sandals against stone came to a halt at the far end of the pier. Melodic in the stillness of morning babbled the One River before him. With the mist hanging like curtains across the waters, he could scarcely see the towering gates that separated Doma’s Castle from the enclave. Gates that kept his father imprisoned in his own residence. Shun felt a pang in his chest, one that he swallowed and buried deep for now. If only he were stronger. Old enough to stand a chance and fight against those who caged his countrymen. Who kept him from his father. But what could a boy accomplish? 

“… No spirit here…” He whispered to himself decidedly, turning on his heel to proceed back the way he came. The guards would be coming through soon to deal with the latest shipment. If he were spotted snooping, it would only cause trouble for Gosetsu later. But as he spun, his eyes snapped wide, all the air in his lungs suddenly sapped from him. 

Hardly even a shadow amid the mist she stood, a small outline of a child. Her dress and hair all but melded with the fog that encompassed them. If not for her piercing eyes and tan skin, she would have been the mist incarnate. 

Shun, shocked to his core, could only stare at the ghostly figure who stood a stone toss away. Neither could pry their eyes from the other. 

He had expected a widow mourning the loss of a sailor husband lost at sea, or perhaps a soldier out for revenge. No one had made mention that the ghost of their stories had been a child of his own age. 

“G-Greetings…?” The boy stammered out. He had never imagined he would truly discover the fabled ghost haunting the docks. What to do after finding her had been a task he left blank up until now. Do ghosts speak? Or wail? Cry perhaps? Could they understand the language of mortals? 

Still a bit shaken by his findings, Shun stepped forward. The girl matched his step but in reverse, keeping the distance between them. 

“Do you speak, Spirit?” He did his best to keep a level voice. He couldn’t risk the guards hearing him and letting the shade before him escape. 

Eyes of two different hues stared intently back at him. Or mayhap she was missing an eye? Perhaps blind in one? With the veil of mist between them, he was uncertain of everything. 

“Come now, I won’t harm you. You can trust me.” Soft, delicate. The way Gosetsu had told him to speak when addressing frightened animals. The lull of a tender voice could quell even a fierce rainbow tiger. One only needed to find the patience inside themselves and be earnest in their intentions. Shun extended a hand. 

“My name is Shun. No harm will come to you, you have my word.” 

Instead of a response, the figure before him collapsed without a sound, crumpling to the stone path beneath her. 

— 

“You should leave spirit hunting to professionals, Shun.” Gosetsu teased with a hum of laughter. 

“How so? If not for my bravery, the docks would still be visited by her, would they not?” Shun protested before taking a hardy bite of rice. 

Gentle rays of morning sun had begun to filter through gaps in the curtains. The enclave had been relieved of its mystifying morning fog, now left to glitter in the morning dew until the summer heat evaporated it. Already the air hung heavy with humidity. 

Gosetsu breathed a sigh. The boy and the Roe shared breakfast together in a small residence, made smaller still by a futon still in use beneath the window. The ghost from the pier laid on her back, eyes open but glassed over as she bore holes into the ceiling. 

“I am afraid not. She collapsed from starvation. The ghost stories would have ended for a different reason.” Gosetsu filled a bowl of rice, patting it softly into place while glancing back at the girl. 

Any appetite Shun had moments ago had vacated, the rumbling of his stomach now replaced with an uneasy feeling. How long had she been out there? Starving and looking for crumbs? It was no wonder the guards complained; she had been snatching food when no one would spy her in the early mornings. But even that seemed not enough. 

The giant roe carefully crossed the room, dish in hand, but stopped suddenly. Shun spun around immediately at the sound of a hiss. 

Despite having hardly the strength to stand on her own two feet, the girl had stirred in her bedding, a hunched but upright position. Her eyes were but daggers beneath thick lashes and unkempt misty white hair. Like a stray hound threatened by the roes presence, her upper lip curled while she snarled. 

“They had it wrong.” Shun announced while blinking curiously. “She’s no ghost but a girl possessed!” 

“Shun!” Gosetsu wheezed. 

“She made no noise at me before. You frighten her, Gosetsu!” The boy scrambled to his feet and took a stance beside his guardian. He stole away the bowl and chopsticks before nudging Gosetsu aside. He obliged, seating himself back at their table. 

“Be at ease. I have given my word that nothing will harm you and I mean to keep it. Remember?” Shun made no attempt to advance yet. Instead he kept eye contact with the girl and lowered his voice once more. 

Her eyes momentarily drifted between Shun and Gosetsu. The feral sounds rumbling from her throat had settled.

“He may be a terrifying sight to behold, but he is a friend and not your enemy.” Somewhere behind Shun, Gosetsu made a scoff but allowed him to continue without interruption. “Pray, accept this food. You must be in tremendous pain.” Shun stepped forward. The girl recoiled with narrowed eyes. “Nothing poisonous. See?” Armed with the chopsticks, Shun made a show of taking a bite himself and eating it. He took a step closer, taking another small bite. 

Before long he had crossed the length of the room, even managing to kneel at the foot of the borrowed futon with the bowl of rice extended as peace offering between himself and the former ghost. Although the tension of her shoulders never ceased, the girl accepted the bowl with two shaking hands. 

Gosetsu, who had watched the whole display in shocked silence, smiled. “Color me impressed, Shun. You could be a beast tamer.” 

Shun flashed him a smile in return, proud of his own accomplishment. “She is no beast, Gosetsu. Just a frightened girl.” He glanced back to her, immediately sighing. “However, it would seem she has no idea what chopsticks are.” 

— 

“Truly? Chopsticks are not difficult to use.” A small raen girl with hair of ebony commented, swinging her feet through the warm waters of the Ruby Sea. 

A trio of children sat perched on the rough, weathered stones of a tide pool. Shun had a collection of stones in his hands, casting them off into the vast expanse of sea before them. Yugiri thoughtfully watched as the stones skipped off the surface while their newest member laid on her stomach, elbow deep in the tide pool and exploring the waters with her hands. 

“Gosetsu has been teaching her. She would have no better teacher.” Shun announced with a grin. 

“A relief then that you should not be her mentor.” Hummed Yugiri, stifling a laugh. Shun croaked, fumbling with the rock he had attempted to throw. It thumped into the waters only yalms away. 

The girl perked her head at the sound, blinking curiously as if she had missed a jump of an eager fish. 

“Has she no name still?” The raen peered over at the girl with snowy hair, with locks so long they dipped into the tide pool and blended with the pale sand like paint on a canvas. 

“No. We brought her to see healers. They called her something but Gosetsu explained that she refuses to speak. She can make sounds and understands when others are speaking, yet she tells us nothing. Not even her name.” 

“Will you name her?” Yugiri tilted her head. 

Shun paused a moment to regard one of the stones in his mass collection. A white piece of sandstone, completely smooth and oval from thousands upon thousands of years beaten by the ocean currents. He shook his head, placing the stone on the girls head where it quickly slipped into the tide pool with a splash. 

“No. One day she will trust me enough to tell me.” The remainder of the stones were discarded into the pool before the children. Shun stooped low beside the two girls, laughing when the former ghost submersed her entire head into the pool, her hair adrift like bleached seaweed. 

— 

Birds sang gentle tunes that afternoon while cicadas cried all around them. The hills were alive with yanxia’s wildlife. From the smallest of insects to the massive rainbow tigers that stalked the rocky terrain, every form of life enjoyed the cool shade of the cliff side that day. Just beyond their perch, Shun and the girl could see pools of glittering water, interrupted by pale diamond crystals that struck out from the earth. 

They sat shoulder to shoulder in the shade, nibbling on onigiri provided by Gosetsu for their afternoon adventure. Weeks had already come and gone since his first encounter with the ghost. Never had he dreamed he would have an opportunity to sit so close to her without some form of growl or protest. Yet in her silence, he enjoyed her company. 

“See that?” Using the back of his hand to clean rice from his cheek, Shun quickly pointed out a figure emerging from a thicket of bamboo. A tiger slinking its way out of its territory to greet another of its kind. “That’s a Rainbow Tiger. They’re really dangerous, so be careful around them.” 

The girl had stopped eating to watch the creatures. Nothing but coiled muscle and snapping fangs. She leaned a bit closer to Shun, squinting against the afternoon sun. But when the creatures met one another with a gentle headbutt and a cheek nuzzle, she looked bewildered. 

“They’re mates. It’s how they greet each other.” Shun explained once he noticed her obvious confusion. She had expected them to fight. After all, he had just mentioned they were ferocious beasts. “They stay together for life, at least Gosetsu says they do. I am no expert.” He laughed, moving to take another bite of his snack. 

Except he was interrupted. A small but calloused hand cupped his cheek, encouraging him to look over at her. Shun’s pale eyes widened when the girl leaned forward and pressed her forehead to his. Almost as quickly as it had happened, she pulled herself away, returning to her abandoned lunch. 

“Yeah. We’ll stay together too. I won’t let anyone take you away. You have my word.” The boy grinned. 

— 

Rain. The enclave was darkened by the rain, all the houses closed up tight to stay warm and dry. Lightning split the sky before thunder rumbled. But it wasn’t the rain that made the day miserable. 

“Take her away?! Why?!” 

The docks were crowded despite the onslaught of rain. Garlean men stood in a uniform line, weapons of all sort at their ready. Behind them was a newly returned boat, metal and ugly compared to the make of Doman boats. 

“She’s been sold off, boy. There’s no need to keep an orphan around.” One of the soldiers spat with a twisted grin. 

Gosetsu, ever at Shun’s side, stepped forward. He towered over the soldiers, using his stature to impose on them. “No one has right to sell another living creature! Especially a small child!” 

The girl in question, her white hair slicked against her cheeks and brow, snarled at the men lined up before them. 

The soldiers were here to claim her. Since having been discovered, it hadn’t sat well with others that an orphan stalked the streets. Domans had begun to whisper, wondering where her mother and father were. It was clear to them she hadn’t been born in Doma, had the Garleans abandoned another lost child to them? Talk of this sort needed to be quelled. The only solution? Be rid of the menace that caused the stir in the first place. 

“Orders are orders,” Another soldier shrugged. 

Shun, who had been shocked into silence at this sudden uproar, finally gathered himself. They wanted to take her away? Then they would certainly have to find her. With a spin of his heel, Shun grabbed the girls wrist and threatened to flee. 

“You cannot have her!” The young prince shouted over another distant crack of thunder. He pulled her with all his might, willing her to run at his side. To quit this enclave and escape. And for a moment she complied, just as eager to leave her fate behind as he was to see it be forgotten. Until another crack tore through the pelting rain. It was no thunder this time. 

A soldier stood with a smoking rifle in hand, cursing his bad aim. 

The girl collapsed to the stone as pain ripped through her small frame. Shun turned with only enough time to see an arch of blood mixing with beads of falling rain. Immediately he dropped beside her, gathering her in his arms. Even with all the rage and anger he felt drumming in his heart, he first scrambled to check her wound. Her white robes, borrowed from a neighbor, had it’s left shoulder torn completely, blood spilling from a gash where the bullet had grazed muscle. 

She pressed a hand to the wound, knowing enough about injuries to apply pressure to stop bleeding. Shun covered her shaking hand with his own quivering palm, glaring at the soldiers responsible beneath rain heavy lashes. 

Gosetsu moved to stand between the soldiers and their line of sight of the children, only to hear a chuckle from behind. Casting a look over his shoulder, the roe felt his stomach drop. Another garlean stood at Shun’s side, a gun trained on the prince. 

“Gosetsu, is it? You have two options. Save the girl or Doma’s heir.” The soldier clicked his tongue, giving a disgusting, twisted smile. When no response came except for a sinking of Gosetsu’s shoulders, the man leaned down and grabbed the girl by the wrist. 

A cry filled the enclave. She was hoisted against her will to her feet with complete disregard of her injury. Yet, despite the pain and agony, or the fear of an uncertain future, the girl kept her eyes trained on Shun. Her lips quivered, torn between snarling and snapping her jaws at her tormentor, and calling out for Shun. 

“Struggling with a kid?” Laughed a soldier, amused that his comrade found difficulties restraining her. 

“She’s tough. A feral beast at heart.” Gosetsu spoke somberly, half proud of the struggle she put up, entirely heartbroken that he could do naught to save her. 

As if to punctuate his sentence, the girl pitched forward and latched her mouth around the mans wrist. Her teeth sunk against flesh, tearing into muscle while blood spilled between her lips. His grip loosened as he cursed to the heavens, casting aside his gun in favor to nurse his injury. 

The girl, free for a moment, dropped to her knees before Shun. Her mismatched eyes, fire and ocean beneath crystalline tears and beads of rain, looked his features over once more. For the last time. She raised her hands, despite the pain that racked her body, and cupped his face. Their foreheads touched, the tip of her nose matching his. 

Shun hiccuped on his tears. “…Forgive me. I cannot… M-My promise.” 

— 

The thunderstorm that hit the enclave that day lasted for several days. The heat of summer had come and gone. The cicadas finished their chorus and returned to the eerie silence of falls approach. Even the Rainbow Tigers fled into the bamboo thickets to hunker down with their mates and cubs. Time pressed on, life continued as planned. 

— 

“Hien, did you know Rainbow Tigers mate for life?” Kiri announced one day, standing on the rolling hills just outside the House of the Fierce. 

Hien quirked a brow, a sudden sense of deja vu overcoming him. “Hm? And how would you know that? Are you an expert?” 

But Kiri only wistfully smiled. “Unlikely. Probably read it in a book once.” 

“Huh…. Maybe you did.”


End file.
